Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceived Hostile Intent, Blameworthiness,
Anger and Aggression: Implications for Violent Conflict

Zeynep Benderlioglu

doi:10.4172/2167-0358.1000160

Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceived Hostile Intent, Blameworthiness, Anger and Aggression: Implications for Violent Conflict

Zeynep Benderlioglu^*
The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA
*Corresponding Author :	Zeynep Benderlioglu 300 Aronoff Laboratory The Ohio State University 318 W, 12th Avenue Columbus OH 43210, USA Tel: 6142925965 E-mail: benderlioglu.1@osu.edu
Received: March 02, 2016 Accepted: March 29, 2016 Published: March 31, 2016
Citation: Benderlioglu Z (2016) Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceived Hostile Intent, Blameworthiness, Anger and Aggression: Implications for Violent Conflict. J Socialomics 5:160. doi:10.4172/2167-0358.1000160
Copyright: © 2016 Benderlioglu Z. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Visit for more related articles at Journal of Socialomics

View PDF Download PDF

Abstract

Aggression is an important social problem that has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Decades of research have been devoted to understand its biological and sociocultural bases. Anthropological records show that a distinction between peaceful and violent cultures can be made. The exact mechanisms for such differences remain unspecified, however. Social perception, modeling of aggressive behavior Bandura, and culture-specific traditions endorsing violent acts Staub has been implicated among the factors that contribute to the cross-cultural differences in aggressive behavior. Here, I propose that cross-cultural differences in aggression and violent conflict may be better understood by examining attributional biases regarding hostile intent, blameworthiness, and the resultant angry reaction.

Keywords

Hostile attribution bias; Hostile intent, Perceived intent; Blame; Terrorism; Violence; Culture of honor; Collectivistic; Individualistic; Social learning

Introduction

The exact mechanisms for such differences remain unspecified, however. Social perception, modeling of aggressive behavior Bandura and culture-specific traditions endorsing violent acts Staub [1], has been implicated among the factors that contribute to the cross-cultural differences in aggressive behavior. Here, I propose that cross-cultural differences in aggression and violent conflict may be better understood by examining attributional biases regarding hostile intent, blameworthiness, and the resultant angry reaction [1-8].

Attribution of Hostile Intent

Aggressive individuals tend to see the world around them as more hostile than it actually is, and, react more aggressively. Numerous studies with preschoolers Katsurada [9], school-aged children [10,11] adolescents adults Epps and Kendall [12], and clinical populations Dodge [13,14], indicate that individuals rated as aggressive by clinical measures, self-reported questionnaires, teachers and/or peers show a marked bias in attributing hostile intent to a provocateur when the intent of the provocateur is in fact ambiguous [11,13-15]. Largely led by Dodge et al. [16], this phenomenon is referred to as “Hostile Attribution Bias” or “Hostile Attribution of Intent”. Perceived aggressive intent of the provocateur is in turn shown to increase aggression measured by the intensity of electrical shock, heightened autonomic arousal indicated by increased blood pressure, skin conductance rate, and self-reported anger [17].

Attribution of hostile intent is considered as a key element in the development and persistence of aggressive behavior [18]. Supporting evidence shows that biased attributions in childhood predict later aggression [15]. It is also shown that aggression is stable over time [19,20]. Both peer nominations and teacher ratings on aggression at age 8 and 14 predict criminality and self-reported aggression at age 26 [19]. According to a 22-year longitudinal study, future antisocial aggression is predictable from the agonistic behavior displayed by children in everyday life [20]. Taken together, these data provide support for a learning model of aggression [8,11,21]. If culture provides a context in which social perception and learning occur then some cultures may lack socio-cultural mechanisms to more effectively cope with aggressive acts, and as a result, be more conducive to aggressive behavior.

Individualistic, Collectivistic and Honor Cultures

Social perception is presumably influenced by the emphasis each society places on individuals, family, groups, norms and values. Indeed, there is evidence that perceptions on the causes of the same violent events, such as a murder, are individual-focused (e.g., bad temper) in the US and group-focused (e.g. isolation from the community) in China [22]. Cross-cultural research classifies the US, as an individual and China as a group-oriented culture [23,24]. This categorization is a result of the focus the Western cultures, including the US, place on individuals, individual autonomy Fiske [23], and accountability Vasquez [25] and Asian cultures, including China on group norms, family, and community [23,24].

Individual- and group-oriented cultures thus appear to provide two distinct cultural contexts in which social perception occurs. A third distinct societal characteristic that presumably influences social cognition is the emphasis placed on honor. Culture of honor has been studied extensively [26-35]. Middle Eastern cultures are generally considered as honor-oriented societies because violation of an honor code in social interactions has serious consequences [36].

Insults and threats in honor cultures result in a heightened angry and aggressive reaction towards the provocateur [27-29, 31, 36-38]. As an example of this reaction, the criminal law in certain Middle Eastern cultures permits reduced sentences in honor killings [36].

It follows that the degree to which people perceive hostile intent and blameworthiness in the negative action of others, and, display anger and aggression as a result of the negative action should differ in distinct cultures; namely individualistic, collectivistic, and honorsocieties. Indeed, there is evidence that people from honor cultures in the Middle East were more likely than their collectivistic counterparts to perceive aggressive intent in a hypothetical provocateur’s actions and blame the provocateur for the negative outcome in ambiguous social interactions. They are also more angered by this negative interaction compared to the collectivistic cultures [39]. People in honor cultures are also more likely to show indirect ("do something to get even") and overt ("have it out with him/her right then and there!") aggression towards the hypothetical provocateur compared to both individualistic and collectivistic cultures [39].

Because perceiving hostile intent is closely associated with blaming the provocateur Wingrove and Bond [40], an important precursor for aggression Betancourt and Blair [41], studying cross-cultural differences in blameworthiness may help social scientists to examine root causes of aggression. Indeed, blameworthiness was a more potent instigator of overt aggression than perceived intent in a study that examined individualistic, collectivistic, and honor-cultures [39].

Discussion

Cultural differences in attribution of causality

Several reasons may help explain cross-cultural differences in attributions of intent, blame, anger, and aggression. Previous research on the relationship between perceived hostile intent and subsequent aggressive response has focused on individual-oriented cultures in North America. Individual-oriented cultures are known to display a marked tendency to attribute causality to personal factors while interpreting events surrounding them [42,43]. On the contrary, grouporiented cultures do not show this tendency [23]. There is suggestive evidence that perceptions on the causes of the same violent events, such as a murder, are individual-focused (e.g., bad temper) in the US and group focused (e.g. isolation from the community) in China. The tendency for the collectivistic cultures to favor situational explanations for negative events is likely to account for their lower scores on perceived hostile intent, blameworthiness, thus, anger in a survey experiment compared to individualistic and honor cultures [39].

Honor societies and aggressive conflict

There is strong evidence that threats and insults in honor cultures are met with strong aggressive reactions to preserve the self-image and protect one’s honor [26-29,31,36]. Justice may in turn be served with extreme forms of punishment, including murder. Many honor cultures in the Middle East have reduced sentences for honor killings due to insults [28,36], suggesting that preserving one’s reputation is an integral part of maintaining social order. Hypothetical scenarios used in the previous study (i.e., Benderlioglu [29], involved social settings where the actor faced public humiliation or a clear threat towards the achievement of a goal. People in honor cultures may react to these negative acts in more hostile terms because of the violation of an honor code.

Concluding Remarks

Throughout the paper, I emphasized the importance of social cognition in overt expression of aggressive behavior. It will be overly simplistic to state that the root causes of violent conflict and surge of terrorism, especially in the Middle East lie in cross-cultural differences in attributing causality, hostile intent, blameworthiness, and reactive aggression. Terrorist organizations, including ISIS operate just like a criminal organization and should be studied as such. However, hyper vigilance to threats and insults, as generally experienced in honor cultures in the Middle East may constitute an important marker of hostility and aggression. This may in turn used to recruit followers to the terrorist organizations far more easily. After all, any organized crime syndicate, and many terrorist organizations, ISIS included, require a large number of followers to advance their agenda. Honor is one of the prevalent societal characteristics of the Middle Eastern countries [33,35]. It has been suggested that honor cultures predate Islam [36], and they are based on land and property ownership, as well as herding economies of the past [29,31].

Therefore, we must perhaps not only consider religious fundamentalism, but violation of an honor code in fighting terrorist threats of the modern world. International military interventions and training of local military forces have so far failed to provide answers, but certainly enabled terrorist leaders to recruit more followers. Perceived external and internal threats constitute the core of national security policies and are often used by political decision makers to initiate armed conflict. Perhaps it is now time to shift the focus from nations to individuals living in violent conflict regions emphasizing the importance of social cognition in the emergence of potential terrorists. This will be a worthwhile effort as wars uproot young men and women from their homes and families, interrupt their formal education, leaving them vulnerable, unemployed, and with ample opportunities to blame someone for their bleak future.

References

Staub E (2003) Notes on culture of violence, cultures of caring and peace, and the fulfilment of basic human needs. Political Psychology 24: 11-21.
Dentan RK (1999) Spotted dovs at war – The Praak Sangkrii (Senoi Semai Malaysia, epic, non-violence). Asian Folklore Studies 58(2):397-434.
Fry DP (1998) Anthropological perspectives on aggression: sex differences and cultural variation. Aggressive Behavior 24(2): 81-95.
De Bonta B (1993) Peaceful peoples: An annotated bibliography. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press 12.
De Bonta B (1997) Cooperation and competition in peaceful societies. Psychological Bulletin 121(2):299-320.
Farver JAM, Nystrom BW, Frosch DL, Wimbarti S, Hoppe Graff S, et al. (1997) Toy stories -Aggression in children’s narratives in the United States, Sweden, Germany, and Indonesia. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 28(4): 393-420.
George KM (1995) Violence, solace, and ritual – A case study from island Southeast Asia. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 19(2): 225-260.
Bandura A (1973) Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Prentice Hall.
Katsurada E, Sugawara AI (1998) The relationship between hostile attribution bias and aggressive behavior in pre-schoolers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 13(4): 623-626.
Crick NC, Dodge KA (1994) A review and reformulation of social information processing mechanisms in children’s social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin 115(1): 74-101.
Dodge KA (1986) A social information processing model of competence in children. Cognitive perspectives on children’s social behavioural development 75(4): 1003-1008.
Epps J, Kendall PC (1995) Hostile attribution bias in adults. Cognitive Therapy and Research 19: 159-178.
Dodge KA, Crick NR (1990) Social information-processing bases of aggressive behavior in children. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 16:8-22.
Dodge KA, Bates JE, Pettit GS (1990) Mechanisms in the cycle of violence. Science 250: 1678-1683.
Zelli A, Dodge KA, Lochman JE, Laird RD (1999) The distinction between beliefs legitimizing aggression and deviant processing of social cues: Testing measurement validity and the hypothesis that biased processing mediates the effects of beliefs on aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77(1): 150-166
Choe DE, Lane JD, Grabell AS, Olson SL (2013) Developmental Precursors of Young School-Age Children's Hostile Attribution Bias. Developmental Psychology 49: 2245-2256
Epstein S, Taylor SP (1967) Instigation to aggression as a function of degree of defeat and perceived aggressive intent of the opponent. Journal of Personality 35(2): 265-289.
De Castro B, Veerman OJW, Koops W, Bosch JD, Monshouwer HJ, etal.(2002) Hostile attribution of intent and aggressive behavior: A Meta-Analysis. Child Development 73(13): 916-934.
Pulkkinen L, Pitkanen T (1993) Continuities in aggressive behavior from childhood to adulthood. Aggressive Behavior 19:4: 249-263.
Huesmann LR, Lefkowitz LD, Walder MM,Leopold O (1990) Stability of aggression over time and generations. Developmental Psychology 20(6): 1120-1134.
Huesmann LR (1988) An information processing model for the development of aggression. Aggressive Behavior 14(1): 13-24.
Morris MW, Peng K (1994) Culture and cause -American and Chinese attributions for social and physical events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67(6): 949-971.
Fiske AP, Kitayama S, Markus H, Nisbett RE (1998) The cultural matrix of social psychology. In The Handbook of Social Psychology McGraw Hill, New York, USA.
Markus RH, Kitayama S (1991) Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review 98:2: 224:253
Vasquez K, Keltner D, Ebenbach DH, Banaszynski TL (2001) Cultural variation and similarity in moral rhetoric’s - Voices from the Philippines and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 32:1: 93-120.
Dogan R I2016) The Dynamics of Honor Killings and the Perpetrators' Experiences. Homicide Studies 20(1): 53-79.
Mosquera PM, Manstead ASR, Fischer AH (2002) The role of honour concerns in emotional reactions to offences. Cognition and Emotion 16(1): 143-163.
Faqir F (2001) Intra-family femicide in defence of honour: The case of Jordan. Third World Quarterly 22(1):65-82.
Nisbett RE, Cohen D (1996) Culture of Honor: The psychology of violence in the South. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Greenberg KS (1996) Honor and slavery: Lies, duels, noses, masks, dressing as a woman, gifts, strangers, humanitariarism, death, slave rebellions, the pro-slavery argument, baseball hunting, and gambling in the Old South. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Nisbett RE (1993) Violence and US regional culture. American Psychologist 48:441-449.
Gilmore DD (1987) Honor, honesty, shame: Male status in contemporary Andalusia. Honor and shame and the unity of the Mediterranean. Washington DC: American Anthropological Association 90-103.
Abu-Lughod L (1986) Veiled sentiments. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Wyatt-Brown B (1982) Southern Honor: ethics and behavior in the old South. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bourdieu P (1966) The sentiment of honour in Kabyle society. Honor and Shame: The values of Mediterranean Society, Chicago: University of Chicago Press 11: 191-241.
Sever A, Yurdakul G (2001) Culture of Honor, culture of change: a feminist analysis of Honor killings in rural Turkey. Violence Against Women 7(9):964-998.
Cohen D, Vandello J, Puente S, Rantilla A (1999) When you call me that, smile! How norms for politeness, interaction styles, and aggression work together in Southern culture. Social Psychology Quarterly 62(3): 257-275.
Cohen D, Nisbett RE, Bowdle BF, Schwarz N (1996) Insult, aggression, and the Southern culture of Honor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70(5): 945-960.
Benderlioglu Z (2003) Perception of hostility and blameworthiness, anger, and aggression in the US, Turkey, and China. PhD. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, USA.
Wingrove J, Bond AJ (1998) Angry reactions to failure on a cooperative computer game. Aggressive Behavior 24(1): 27-36.
Betancourt H, Blair I (1992) cognition (attribution)-emotion model of violence in conflict situations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 18(3): 343-350.
Miller JG (1984) Culture and the development of everyday social explanations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46: 961-978.
Shweder RA, Bourne EJ (1982) Does the concept of person varies cross-culturally? Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health and Therapy. New York: Kluwer: Academic Press.

Select your language of interest to view the total content in your interested language

Post your comment

Share This Article

Relevant Topics

Recommended Journals

Recommended Conferences

2nd Experts Meeting on Forensic Psychology and Criminology
October 02-03, 2017 London, UK
Annual Congress on Soil Sciences
Dec 4-5, 2017 Madrid, Spain

Article Tools

Article Usage

Total views: 8059
[From(publication date):
March-2015 - Jul 13, 2017]
Breakdown by view type
HTML page views : 8005
PDF downloads :54

Research Article Open Access

Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceived Hostile Intent, Blameworthiness, Anger and Aggression: Implications for Violent Conflict

Abstract

Share This Article

Relevant Topics

Recommended Journals

Recommended Conferences

Article Tools

Article Usage

Post your comment

Journals by Subject

Clinical & Medical Journals

Conferences by Country

Medical & Clinical Conferences

Conferences By Subject

Contact Us